The tennis world is divided over Danielle Collins after her behavior at this year’s Australian Open.
There’s nothing like a bit of drama to spice up an already thrilling Grand Slam tournament, as one of the biggest names on the WTA Tour has certainly gotten people talking over the last few days.
Fans have been reacting to Collins’ behavior at the Australian Open after she taunted the crowd following her second-round win over home favorite Destanee Aiava.
The 31-year-old had plenty to say after securing her spot in the second round, and didn’t hold back one bit.
“One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is the people that don’t like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills,” said Collins.
“Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund.”
Novak Djokovic recently praised Collins for her comments, saying that he ‘loved her response’ to the critics.
One of Collins’ fellow American WTA stars has now chimed in to give her thoughts on the world number 11’s recent drama.
Jessica Pegula says Danielle Collins is ‘great for the sport’ after recent drama
In her post-match press conference, 2024 US Open finalist Jessica Pegula was asked whether she thinks Collins’ behavior is good for the sport.
“I think it’s honestly great for the sport to have that entertainment and to see her personality,” she said.
“She’s, like, it doesn’t matter if it’s a good crowd or a bad crowd, she’s going to feed off of it and try to use that to motivate her.
“I mean, I think Coco [Gauff] said it best. Danielle [Collins] is going to be Danielle.”
Coco Gauff praised Collins for being herself, in a recent press conference.
Pegula also explained how having a personality like Collins on the WTA Tour is refreshing for the ‘stuffy’ world of tennis.
“On court she kind of has this little persona that she likes to do,” she said.
“I think you have to kind of respect that at the end of the day and appreciate that, especially for a woman’s sport, I think it’s kind of refreshing to have that.
“Tennis can be kind of stuffy.”
Pegula then mentioned how Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios have at times been painted as villains by tennis fans and the media.
“It’s always kind of been a little bit of a stuffy, uppity kind of sport,” she said.
“I think you see that even when people think Novak [Djokovic] is a villain or Nick [Kyrgios] is the villain and stuff like that.
“I think fans just like to assume that they know and they put these people in these roles.
“At the end of the day we’re entertainers, and I think it can help the sport having more personality.”
Pegula also suggested that the rise of social media may have stopped certain players from expressing their personalities on the court.
“I think nowadays it’s maybe tougher with social media that everything kind of comes back to haunt you or maybe there’s something out there that gets taken out of context and gets taken the wrong way,” she said.
“Back in the day when social media wasn’t around, you had so much more personality in tennis, probably because those things didn’t stick with you forever.”
Pegula explained how Collins isn’t the type to let that stop her.
“She’s not afraid if it’s out there,” she said.
“If there’s a video of her, she’s able to laugh at it too and kind of look back and be, like, okay, maybe that was too much.
“At least I was just out there being me.
“Yeah, I think it’s nice for the sport, I think the more personality, the better.”
Jessica Pegula dumped out of the Australian Open by world number 55 Olga Danilovic
Pegula was speaking after her Australian Open third-round match, where she became the second top-ten seed to exit the tournament.
The American was shocked by world number 55 Olga Danilovic in straight sets, 7-6, 6-1, as she failed to reach the fourth round in Melbourne for the second year running.
Danilovic played an excellent game to down Pegula, as she secured just her third win over a top-ten opponent in her young career.
Pegula gave credit to her 23-year-old opponent after the match, but noted how the conditions affected her.
“Credit to her, she played really well,” she said.
“Conditions were so slow, it was slower than a clay court, it felt like.
“She was making a lot of high-percentage first serves, and then with the conditions being slower, like, my ball just wasn’t getting me any free points, it seemed like.
“I mean, it’s not even the same tournament from, like, my first round match playing on [John] Cain during the day, it’s fast, and then playing in there at night it’s not even remotely the same.
“It’s tough, everyone has to deal with it, some deal with it better than others.”
The conditions may have worked in Danilovic’s favor but her performance was more than worthy of a spot in the fourth round, as she now gets set to take on Paula Badosa on Sunday, January 19.
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